China plans to allocate $137 bn of new funds to aid housing market

By Bloomberg News

China plans to provide at least 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) of low-cost financing to the nation’s urban village renovation and affordable housing programs in its latest effort to shore up the struggling property market, according to people familiar with the matter.
 

The People’s Bank of China would inject funds in phases through policy banks with the money ultimately trickling down to households for home purchases, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Officials are considering options including the so-called Pledged Supplemental Lending and special loans, the people said, adding that the government may take the first step as soon as this month.

 

The plan, part of a new initiative by Vice Premier He Lifeng, would mark a major step-up in authorities’ efforts to put a floor under the biggest property downturn in decades, which has weighed on economic growth and consumer confidence. Market concerns have mounted over the financial health of the nation’s largest surviving developers after record defaults in the industry.

The outstanding amount of funds lent through the PSL program stood at 2.9 trillion yuan as of October. A net injection of 1 trillion yuan would vault the total past the previous record in 2019. The final amount of new funding is subject to change, the people said.

The PBOC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The onshore yuan rebounded on the report, paring all of the day’s declines to 7.288 per dollar. The yield on benchmark 10-year government bond rose 1.75 basis points to 2.6625%, heading for the biggest increase in three weeks. The FTSE A50 Index Futures rose as much as 0.5% after market close on Tuesday.

Dubbed by some as “helicopter money,” PSL allows the central bank to provide low-cost funds through policy and commercial lenders to the developers of the shantytown renovation projects. Developers then use the money to buy land from local governments, which in turn give cash subsidies to households whose old homes were demolished so they can purchase newly-built or existing apartments, driving up demand. 

“This is not to spur growth but rather deliver a more balanced development for the longer term,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. He expects the funding to drive private investment in the sectors and lead to over 10 trillion yuan in overall direct investment.

State-owned developers such as China Resources Land Ltd. were among the biggest beneficiaries from the previous expansion of affordable housing projects.

The PSL program is a controversial tool. It was first deployed in 2014 to reverse a property market downturn, but was heavily criticized later for inflating the real estate bubble in lower-tier cities. 

The central bank largely stopped providing new PSL funds in 2019 as the shantytown project wrapped up. It was relaunched briefly last year to help the policy banks — which are less profit-driven than state lenders — provide financing for infrastructure development.

The latest plan comes after Beijing announced an unconventional fiscal stimulus last month, including raising the budget deficit with the issuance of an additional 1 trillion yuan of sovereign bonds. 

The world’s second-largest economy is still on a bumpy recovery path despite an improvement in the third quarter. Official data to be released Wednesday are expected to show economic momentum faltered in October even though headline numbers will likely look good relative to last year.